A Klingon by any other name...

[sbk1234]

This has probably been discussed ad infinitum, but here goes...
Back in TOS, there were only a handful of Klingons whose names were said canonically: Koloth, Kor, Kang (I might have missed one or two.) Other than a female Klingon, Mara, they all had names that began with K. This continued with TSFS, with Kruge. Of course, this also started a bit of a change, in that his two officers had names that started with other letters, Maltz and Torg. Yes, TFF had Klingons Koord and Klaa.
Female Klingons, now, seemed to follow the convention of names starting with V (i.e. Valkris, Vixis).
Things got a little more gummed up when TNG premiered with the Klingon Worf. After him, Klingon names started being spelled with lots of letters, (Duras, Toral, etc.)

Is there supposed to be some pattern with the Klingon names? If not, is there an explaination from canon or non-canon sources as to why the pattern of K names had changed, or did it exist in the first place?
Just wondering.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

No, Klingon names have no pattern.

 

[Michael]

Re: A Klingon by any other name ...

The only pattern seems to be that for the male names they (the writers) try to come up with a rather harsh sounding name that is in most cases instantly recognizable as a male name. Mara or Lursa sound much softer whereas the -a ending implies (just like in the western culture) the name of a female.

I really can't see another pattern. It seems that at least in TOS they tried to esablish a recognizable K-pattern.

Kras, Kahless and Korax seem to be the TOS names you left out ...

 

[A beaker full of death]

Re: A Klingon by any other name ...

Belar said:
It seems that at least in TOS they tried to esablish a recognizable K-pattern.

Yes, they did. Same with Vulcan names.

 

[Michael]

Re: A Klingon by any other name ...

A beaker full of death said:

Belar said:
It seems that at least in TOS they tried to esablish a recognizable K-pattern.

Yes, they did. Same with Vulcan names.

Kpock? K'Pau? Karek?

 

[Nerys Myk]

Re: A Klingon by any other name ...

Made sense from a story standpoint since you could tell who was a Vulcan or Klingon by their names. From a more realistic perpective not so much.

Didn't the novelization of TUC come up with Valeris having a Klingon name for some reason, because it didn't follow the Vulcan naming pattern?

 

[A beaker full of death]

Re: A Klingon by any other name ...

Belar said:

A beaker full of death said:

Belar said:
It seems that at least in TOS they tried to esablish a recognizable K-pattern.

Yes, they did. Same with Vulcan names.

Kpock? K'Pau? Karek?

I think those were Batman sound effects.

 

[Kegek]

Re: A Klingon by any other name ...

I'd like to air my pet theory, that the name Kahless was some kind of in-joke. At the time of TOS, you couldn't name a Klingon K-less, after all...

 

[Michael]

Re: A Klingon by any other name ...

^ LOL! I never thought about that. Would be a nice touch ...

 

[Venardhi]

Re: A Klingon by any other name ...

Naming trends come in and out of fashion. Look at the top male names in the US currently. Jayden, Aiden, Hayden, etc.

 

[Therin of Andor]

sbk1234 said:
is there an explaination from canon or non-canon sources as to why the pattern of K names had changed, or did it exist in the first place?

In the late John M Ford's novel "The Final Reflection", the first great Klingon ST novel, the central Klingon character starts out as Vrenn. During the story arc, he achieves true warrior status and takes on the name Krenn.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Re: A Klingon by any other name ...

Venardhi said:
Naming trends come in and out of fashion.

That's how I look at it. Names beginning with "K" may have varying degrees of popularity within the Empire.

Then again, we are talking about Klingons from Qo'noS by the time of TNG...

 

[M'Sharak]

Re: A Klingon by any other name ...

C.E. Evans said:

Venardhi said:
Naming trends come in and out of fashion.

That's how I look at it. Names beginning with "K" may have varying degrees of popularity within the Empire.

Then again, we are talking about Klingons from Qo'noS by the time of TNG...

Still, it's not unreasonable to suppose that more Klingon names do begin with a 'K' sound than with other sounds. Hawaiian, for example, is much the same in that regard; if you look at this list, it's easy to see that there are so many 'K' names, compared to those starting with other sounds, that K has been further divided into Ka, Ke, Ki, Ko and Ku. Other languages here on Earth exhibit similar predominant initial sounds.

 

[captcalhoun]

Re: A Klingon by any other name ...

pity that B'etor and K'eyler(sp) completely fark the soft feminine names theory...

 

[C.E. Evans]

Re: A Klingon by any other name ...

M´Sharak said:

C.E. Evans said:

Venardhi said:
Naming trends come in and out of fashion.

That's how I look at it. Names beginning with "K" may have varying degrees of popularity within the Empire.

Then again, we are talking about Klingons from Qo'noS by the time of TNG...

Still, it's not unreasonable to suppose that more Klingon names do begin with a 'K' sound than with other sounds. Hawaiian, for example, is much the same in that regard; if you look at this list, it's easy to see that there are so many 'K' names, compared to those starting with other sounds, that K has been further divided into Ka, Ke, Ki, Ko and Ku. Other languages here on Earth exhibit similar predominant initial sounds.

And that may indeed be the case within the Empire that names beginning with "K" are more common in some regions than in others.

It could be argued that "K" may have been popular among Klingons because of Kahless, and a similar idea might have played out on Vulcan--"S" may have been popular among Vulcans because of Surak...

 

[Therin of Andor]

Re: A Klingon by any other name ...

captcalhoun said:
pity that B'etor and K'eyler(sp) completely fark the soft feminine names theory...

Parents often select a strong name for a child, hoping it will give them a boost in life. Klingon parents expecting the arrival of a son might bequeath that name to a daughter instead.

 

[The Laughing Vulcan]

Re: A Klingon by any other name ...

Human Starship Captains should always have a J or a K in their names. Both if possible.

 

[M'Sharak]

Re: A Klingon by any other name ...

captcalhoun said:
pity that B'etor and K'eyler(sp) completely fark the soft feminine names theory...

We had a theory?

As best I can recall, one person made a general observation about a pattern of name choice by the writers, but no more than that.

 

[Cranston]

Re: A Klingon by any other name ...

The Laughing Vulcan said:
Human Starship Captains should always have a J or a K in their names. Both if possible.

Or at least a middle initial "T." That "T" goes a long way.

 

[The Laughing Vulcan]

Re: A Klingon by any other name ...

Captain Kermit T Frog